Hello Osmocom community,

In my previous reply to Anonymous Internet User msfu666, I mentioned that I sometimes give out FCSIM1 cards free of cost to certain recipients, but I did not elaborate on the conditions. I did not spell out the conditions because I hadn't actually given much thought to what they should be - but thinking about it now, I realize that only one condition would actually make sense. My FCSIM1 cards are good for one and only one purpose: operating your own GSM network (presumably with Osmocom CNI software, no idea if OpenBTS/YateBTS would work or not) *for the purpose of* providing service specifically to vintage handsets. Therefore, the condition becomes quite simple: if there is anyone here besides just me who operates their own Osmocom-based GSM network _specifically for the purpose_ of providing service specifically to _vintage_ GSM handsets and you would like some of my FCSIM1 cards, please let me know and I'll send you a few.

What are vintage GSM handsets? For the present purpose, we can define a vintage GSM handset as being one that:

a) has a 2FF SIM socket, as opposed to 3FF or 4FF or eSIM;

b) has a 2G-only radio;

c) does not speak UICC/USIM protocol, only GSM 11.11 SIM.

If anyone besides me operates their own GSM network specifically for the purpose of providing service to (or just playing with) such vintage handsets, then FCSIM1 cards would be a good choice for such operation: hence if you would like some, you can have them for the cost of shipping. OTOH, if you operate your own network, even if it's a 2G network radio-wise, for some purpose other than exclusively serving or playing with vintage handsets, then my FCSIM1 cards will NOT be a good choice for your applications. Specifically, if you are going to connect any kind of "modern" phones to your network, even if it's 2G RAN, those "modern" phones will want 3FF or 4FF SIMs - but my FCSIM1 cards are 2FF only, and thus a poor choice for such usage.

Sincerely,

Lady Mychaela Nadezhda Falconia, Mother of FreeCalypso, Dame of the Order of 2G, Champion of Published Source Code